Catalyst
by Stargazer at Moonlight
Summary: Finished. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.
1. Chapter 1

_**Catalyst: Chapter One**_

**Characters**: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Perceptor, Prowl, Bluestreak, Jazz, Optimus, Ironhide, Devastator, Menasor, Slingshot, Silverbolt, Hot Spot – Some of them are probably OOC, sometimes on purpose, others because I may not be overly familiar with the character.

**Rating**: T for language

**Words**: 1662

**Summary**: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes**: Just a random idea that popped in my head. I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on this since I may or may not post more chapters online for this. If I do post more, updates will be slow in coming since I work on a number of different fics at one point in time so that I don't get bogged down on/in one when my brain just don't wanna work. I did the editing myself, but if ya catch anything, I'd like to know. Reviews help tremendously, so any and all things would be awesome. Thanks.

::bond::

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

_Thoughts_

::~Sideswipe, I need you to distract one of the Devastator team. I don't want you or Sunstreaker to have to break them apart,~:: Prowl's calm voice said, bringing a bit of order to the chaos the frontliner was currently in. ::~You know the vulnerable points.~::

:: Gotcha, Prowler. You owe us for this.::

:: I know. Ignore that you're setting up pranks.::

Prowl continued ordering the battle as well as possible from both his perspective and his mates' perspectives. They were all slowly edging closer to each other, unable to stay too far apart when they chose to link themselves so closely. Before the six mechs knew it they were only a hundred feet from each other and desperately fighting. The Seekers were shooting at them from above and the Devastator team along with the Menasor team was closing in on them.

:: Frag. Double frag,:: slipped through the bond from the tactician. :: I don't see us getting a way out of this since they're going to form up soon.::

A shocked silence permeated the bond for a split second.

:: Slag!:: That was Bluestreak.

:: Fraggin' fantastic!:: came Jazz's sarcastic thought.

:: We knew this would happen at some point,:: Perceptor pointed out.

:: Fraggers, the lot of them,:: Sunstreaker growled.

:: Primus in the Pit!:: Sideswipe cursed.

:: Well. Our secret is soon to be out. Any last words, gentlemechs? No?:: Sunstreaker said over their bond before shouting, "CATALYST! FORM UP!"

Mechs turned to look regardless of what they had been occupied with before, no matter if it was throwing a punch, squeezing the trigger, buried in the internals of an injured mech, or throwing insults back and forth. What they saw was both awe-inspiring and horrifying. There was another gestalt? How in the Pit did that happen and how did nobody know of it?

The twins merged in the air to form the torso and part of the shoulder-mounted cannon along with the head. Prowl and Bluestreak, their weapons subspaced, formed the legs that the torso came to rest on as Jazz and Perceptor merged as their arms, the microscope's barrel formed the rest of the cannon.

The earth shook as Catalyst barreled forward into the newly formed Menasor, deftly plowing a fist into the joint holding the gestalt together and knocking them apart. He was careful to not step on any of the mechs as he turned to faced Devastator. This gestalt was about the same age as Catalyst as a combiner, but the mechs forming him were older and more experienced. The Autobot combiner would have to be careful when taking him on.

:: It should be his left shoulder joint,:: Perceptor said after a moment of contemplation. Catalyst rolled his arms at their merge points before calmly walking towards the lime green and purple combiner.

:: You would think they'd at least choose appropriate colors for their alt modes,:: Sunstreaker grumbled.

:: I agree. How can they possibly blend in like that?:: Prowl said, allowing the gestalt mind access to his battle computer. Too bad it wasn't needed as Megatron called for a retreat.

:: Time to face the music,:: Jazz joked as they broke apart into their individual mechs.

"That saying fits surprisingly well. Of course, you're also really into music, Jazz, so it fits even better. Especially when you say it. Don't you think so?"

"O' course, Blue. It's ah good way ta express tha'."

The Catalyst team stayed close together as the Autobots converged on their position after all of the Decepticons had left the battlefield. They visually checked each other over for wounds and did what needed to be done.

:: Do you think that we'll be questioned really harshly?:: the gunner asked hesitantly.

:: Most likely,:: the tactician answered. :: They'll be wondering why we kept this secret.::

"Yeah. Well there was a Pit slaggin' good reason and if we hadn't have had to today, there'd still be a Pit slaggin' good reason," Sideswipe muttered heatedly as Perceptor finished welding closed the slight tears in his coolant and energon lines.

"We're all agreed there, Sides," Sunstreaker said. "We have a lot to worry about too-"

"Slaggin' right ya have a lot ta worry 'bout," Ironhide said as he reached the group of mechs. "What possessed ya ta not inform us that ya formed a gestalt? Ya know how much of an advantage that would have been? How many more battles we coulda won?"

:: There would have been little difference and we normally serve other purposes in the army,:: Sideswipe groused. Perceptor sent a wave of calm over to the twins. Keeping them level-headed at this point in time was a priority.

:: Of course not, Sides,:: Prowl said placatingly. :: You know that I am normally kept off the battlefield and we are all separated too far on a normal basis.::

:: Yeah, but Prowler, they ain' gonna be thinkin' 'bout tha'. They gonna be thinkin' 'bout their lost comrades an' tha like.::

:: That is far too true,:: Perceptor said quietly. :: They will all be rather angry with us, I do believe.::

Optimus pulled up to the small group and transformed to root mode. His expression behind his mask reeked of disappointment. Jazz rubbed a hand soothingly down Prowl's arm. They were all nervous about what could happen to them – stripped of rank, thrown from the Ark, or kept from what they enjoyed.

Sideswipe stood close enough to Sunstreaker to lend him support physically but far enough behind him to recognize his position of leadership and slung an arm around Perceptor to support him and calm him. Prowl laced his fingers with the frontliner's with Jazz wrapping and arm around his waist and Bluestreak latching onto the saboteur's other side. The tactician rubbed a soothing hand across the gunner's doorwings. They were all emotionally supporting their leader and, physically, declaring who they followed. This apparently did not make it clear to the rest of the mechs barring the Aerialbots and Protectobots.

"Prowl. Why were we not informed of your combiner unit?" Optimus asked.

Sunstreaker's engine rumbled in threat. Passing by the leader to ask another gestalt mate was an insult. Silverbolt and Hot Spot looked at the Prime like he had grown another head. How did he not notice the way they were standing? Their own gestalts stood the same way.

"You address me, Prime, before you go to my mates," the yellow frontliner hissed.

Ironhide stepped forward, cannons whirling threateningly. Sunstreaker paid him no mind though the other five mechs moved significantly closer to him. In fact, they reached out to touch his back plates as if to reassure themselves that he was there.

"Ya don' address Prime like that, youngling," the weapon's specialist growled.

"And you don't frag with a pissed off gestalt leader," Prowl stated matter-of-factly. "In fact, I would recommend that you back off. We may not slag you later."

To hear such a thing from the straight-laced tactician was surprising and many of the Autobots looked at him strangely. A grin splayed itself across Sideswipe's faceplates. Jazz and Bluestreak smiled at him happily and gave him a thumbs-up. Maybe he would be more open to showing them affection in public.

"Do you go to Silverbolt's or Hot Spot's team without consulting with them fist, Prime? No. They're gestalt leaders. They need to know what's going on with their team. I'm leader of the Catalyst team and it was fraggin' well-earned. Are you gonna undermine that just because of who I am?" Sunstreaker asked with a dark glare for the huge bot.

"Well, it's not like anyone told us anything," Optimus grumbled.

"It is rather obvious, Prime," Slingshot said. "We stand behind our leader. So do Hot Spot's mates."

:: Is it just meh or does Prahme seem ta be ratha more outta sorts than we though'?:: Jazz asked. His confusion filtered over the bond along with his thoughts.

:: Definitely not how we thought he'd act .It's not like we're different mechs. The only thing different is that we are part of a gestalt. I mean, I don't feel any different. Do any of you feel any different?::

A chorus of 'no's answered him before Sideswipe continued. :: None of us are different, but we have been, along with Red Alert, keeping a huge secret from the rest of the Autobots.::

:: It doesn't help our case that Jazz and I are two of the highest ranked officers and we kept this from him.::

The red frontliner tightened his hold on the black and white tactician. For being the most standoffish socially, he really was a touchy-feely mech with them. Of course, he was never close to them before everything happened and they had all been friends. Since then, he had opened up to them just as they did the same and came to accept and enjoy touching and being touched. Whether that happened for any reason was on his terms though. They had learned to interpret the feedback they got from him on when it was acceptable.

:: This would be better done on the Ark,:: Perceptor observed, stroking the arm that Prowl had wrapped around the red frontliner.

"So how was I supposed to know that it was something all gestalts did?"

"Even Motamasta is at tha fron' o' his group," Jazz muttered.

"The leader _leads_. For Catalyst team, Sideswipe and I are first with support from Bluestreak and Perceptor. Jazz got the information that Prowl needed for the plan we follow and scouts for us just to be on the safe side."

"Isn't the leader of the gestalt supposed to have the highest rank?" Prime asked.

Sunstreaker answered, "No. That's just a construction that you all came up with. Of course, they were sparked gestalt. I support my mates in what they want to do. Jazz, Prowl, and Cep chose to rise in rank. We provide them with what they need."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Catalyst: Chapter Two**_

**Characters:** Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Perceptor, Prowl, Bluestreak, Jazz, Red Alert, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Aerialbots (with specific mention of Silverbolt, Fireflight, and Slingshot) – some of them are probably OOC, mainly on purpose, but it may be because I don't know the character that well

**Rating:** K

**Words: **1949

**Summary: **Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes: **I was not expecting so many people to really have an interest in this, but I really like the concept myself, so it will probably be finished. Maybe not in the way I want it to, but it will. Shall see how that pans out. Chapter Three is finished and I am working on Chapter Four. Time between updates will vary depending on the amount of time I have with Silanah, my laptop, and the level of distractions and the will of Primus in allowing my muses to help me develop my idea. This on top of also having other fics I am working on and homework/schoolwork. I did the editing myself, but if ya catch anything, I'd like to know. Reviews help tremendously, so any and all things would be awesome. Thanks.

* * *

><p>::bond::<p>

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

_Thoughts_

* * *

><p>They finally made it back to base, though much faster than the rest of the Autobots since they all either had speedy alt modes or upgrades to them, other than Perceptor who chose to ride in Bluestreak, and headed straight for the security room. Red Alert needed to know that their secret was out so that he would be prepared for the questions thrown his way. The only reason he didn't know already was that they hadn't all been able to spend time together with him at the same time. Before they had been formed into a gestalt team, he had a bond with the twins since he was family and that had been transferred to all the mechs of the gestalt so that they were all able to communicate with him through the bond as long as it was kept strong.<p>

"RED!" Sideswipe yelled as he went to jump on the security director.

He dodged the red frontliner's move and allowed him to face plant on the floor. "I take it your secret is out since you're all here together. What caused the need to combine?"

"That would be Menasor and Devastator forming up on either side of us and the Seekers overhead," Sunstreaker answered, hugging the red and white Lamborghini gently. "If we hadn't, there was a very slim chance of us all making it out."

"Then it's good you did."

Prowl and Perceptor broke into a smile at the SD's words. They needed more acceptance from others than the rest of the gestalt and Sunstreaker had a feeling that they would need more support in the days to come. Not very many mechs would like that they hadn't revealed themselves before the last battle. Already Prime radiated disappointment and was staying away from his two officers, Ironhide had been almost violent in his rejection of them, and a number of the other mechs had glared at them in disgust and hatred. The only ones who seemed to understand were Ratchet, Wheeljack, the Aerialbots and Protectobots, and, surprisingly, Cliffjumper and Mirage.

"We're going to open the Twins' room to Jazz's, Perceptor's, and mine," the tactician stated. That would give them all enough room and still have a certain bit of privacy if they needed it.

"Do you need Bluestreak's opened to them also?" Red Alert asked, calmly working out what was happening.

"I moved in with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker no too long ago so my room is currently empty." Everyone would be surprised to hear the gunner speak in a way that wasn't rambling. He only did that whenever he was nervous or bored out of his processor – and he had been nervous about revealing their secret to the Autobots and Decepticons. Now that it was out in the open, he felt no need to worry over it anymore.

"I'll connect my room to yours. We need some time alone to re-strengthen the bond."

The Twins were fairly relieved that the secret was finally out. Their older brother would glitch less now that the safety of his family was not threatened quite as much. Of course, now they had to worry about their fellow Autobots, but with the security director on their side, there was less of a chance of something untoward happening to them.

* * *

><p>Ratchet had been thoughtful since the Catalyst team had been revealed. Prime was not taking the information like he should, turning the omission into something very personal. Many of the Autobots had been, for that matter. He could understand the need for secrecy though and he had faith that Prowl had been including that variable into his tactical plans and coming up with less than stellar results. The Twins were injured enough during most battles to give each of the teammates a scare, but they trusted in them for their collective safety too. Sunstreaker had explained the dynamics beautifully even though he had no idea what such a sociopathic mech was doing as gestalt leader. What had really caught his attention about the entire exchange was that the yellow frontliner had said "we provide them with what they need".<p>

"I had always wondered how Perceptor knew so much about gestalts. Now we know," Wheeljack said from beside the medic.

"What do you take from Sunstreaker's statement that they give them what they need?"

"If you look at our other two teams, you'll notice that they balance each other out. Of course, they were created as gestalts, but the same general principle probably applies. Did you see how willing Prowl was to touch the others of his team? He gets some kind of support from them. Sunstreaker was calmer than normal. Sideswipe was more serious."

"I think that if Ironhide had actually shot Sunstreaker, Prowl would have ripped his spark out of his chassis."

"The other gestalt teams are extremely protective of the other members."

Wheeljack was fascinated. How they had kept such a secret for so long was surprising and worthy of investigation. He knew that they needed to form up every so often and refresh their bonds to each other, so how had that been accomplished? Unless Red Alert knew and had covered for them, but that still didn't explain how they renewed their bond.

"Hey, Ratch? You think Red Alert knew?"

* * *

><p>The six mechs of Catalyst team took off for their separate rooms. Opening the rooms to each other was a symbol of freedom to them as they had not been free to be together. Prowl laughed cheerfully, transforming and shooting past his gestaltmates. The others stopped to stare at each other in shock. Their tactician was so excited as to break one of his most strictly upheld rules? Jazz whooped before transforming and tearing off after the mech he had pretended to be spark-bonded to. They were, just not in the way the other mechs thought, of course, but perceptions were everything. All of them had learned that early on in their respective careers.<p>

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sideswipe exclaimed, speeding after them with Sunstreaker hot on his tail. Bluestreak waited for Perceptor to settle into his passenger seat before following their example.

The process to open the doors was simple, moving a knickknack in their respective rooms revealed a button that, when pushed, opened the wall separating them from each other. Of course, before that happened, Red Alert had to allow it to happen and they had to move everything away from the wall. Considering Prowl's was the one that they all joined to, he made sure to have little against any of his walls. Thankfully they had found a way to combine all of the private washracks together too, so there weren't any major obstructions. Red's room was right next to the Twins' thankfully and they would be able to easily integrate. They may have to convince Bluestreak to reclaim his room and add it on for more space, but that was a bridge they'd cross when they got there. For now they'd settle for what was affectionately termed a 'cuddle pile' by Jazz and Bluestreak.

Before the rest of the Autobots were able to get back to the Ark, Catalyst team thankfully had all of the rooms together and had most of their belongings situated with most of them having their own particular area designated by their respective hobbies. A knock came at each of their doors as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker finished moving their couch, which was part of the matching set that Jazz had a loveseat from, Prowl had a chaise from, and Red Alert had a chair. All the pieces had been laid out in such a way as to allow them free movement and give the entire room a focal point separate from the berths that had been joined together as one.

They each took the door closest to them, minus Red Alert's, and opened it. One member each of the Aerialbots stood there and each of the Catalyst team was amused by the open shock on their faceplates. The expression was understandable since no one besides the security director knew about their rooms being able to open to each other. What made the situation hilarious was Fireflight's reaction of "Ooooo….. Shiny!" with a squeal as he saw the two Praxians' crystal collection. Even Slingshot was in awe at the sight that took up one corner of the room though one had to be able to read mechs as well as Jazz could to see it.

Sunstreaker and Prowl moved toward Silverbolt as the Aerialbots were welcomed into Catalyst team's domain. They knew that the young gestalt leader would be full of questions. Everyone would be, but those that were rude about it would find themselves quickly and bodily evicted. Neither of the twins were going to allow the more sensitive members to be upset without quick retaliation. The Aerialbot leader wouldn't be one of those though, so Sunstreaker didn't warn Prowl away, though he did wrap an arm around the Datsun's shoulders as one of the tactician's slipped around his hip plates.

"You weren't sparked as a gestalt?"

"No and neither was Devastator team. We had gestalt compatible sparks with the programming that had been developed," the yellow twin said, his grip tightening on his gestaltmate.

"Oh. Okay." The Catalyst team mechs relaxed fractionally. "So would there be any major differences when we combine as compared to when you combine?"

"Cep could answer better than we could, but he has told us that, unlike Superion, Catalyst does not completely take away our sense of an individual self – we were the first experiment with gestalts, so a few tweaks were made to the programming before Devastator was made. We still each have our own minds the entirety of the merge and have our own opinions. In fact, I can choose to allow access to my battle computer or not. Catalyst himself is a different personality from ours, but not an overriding one."

"Is there any other name for your gestalt besides Catalyst team?"

Sunstreaker and Prowl shrugged. "We had no defining characteristics that were the same. We were all friends before becoming gestalt, but never very close and never anything more. That is, other than Sides and I. It is true that we are twins. As far as we know, the team or their creators just _know_. We did not, so we are Catalyst team."

"Well, Sunshine, Catalyst's name does mean something. That moment was a catalyst for change just like we all somehow were in our previous professions, even if Blue's was in a roundabout way."

"Very true, Prowler," the frontliner mused.

The black and white sent him a pulse of satisfaction and affection. "I'm going to go claim my chaise. There's a book file I've been wanting to finish and haven't had the time."

Sunstreaker smiled after him fondly as the tactician gracelessly flopped down on his favorite piece of furniture on his front, his doorwings twitching happily, broadcasting contentment to his gestaltmates. Each of the others drifted their way to him for a short while before returning to what they were doing. He was the "eye of the storm" so to speak and the gestalt leader could appreciate the description and the irony. Even here he was pushing many of his emotions back based purely on the fact that it was not just Catalyst team present.

"He seems so…" Silverbolt said before pausing, trying to find an accurate description.

"Content," Sunstreaker supplied and the Concorde nodded.

"Yes. He's not normally."

"No, he isn't," he said in reply, venting a soft sight, his yellow shoulders drooping a miniscule amount in sadness and worry. "He rarely ever was."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Catalyst: Chapter Three**_

**Characters:** Sideswipe, Prowl, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Ratchet, Wheeljack (mentioned)

**Rating:** T – mentions of 'facing

**Words:** 1930

**Summary: **Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes: **Sorry about how long it took to get this out, but the muse hasn't been workin with me and I like bein a couple chapters or so ahead. That, coupled with Midterms and Spring Break (which was awesome, might I add) and finals. Thanks for being patient with me.

::bond::

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

_Thoughts_

A sharp movement against his left side brought him quickly out of recharge. That didn't seem right. The only mech who ever slept on his left side didn't room with him, his processor supplied as it slowly booted back up. In fact, the only mech to ever sleep there was Prowl. His optics on-lined, pixilated, before settling to his normal resolution.

"Well, slag," Sideswipe muttered under his breath as his memory chips finally processed. It had been such a long time since he had last fallen into recharge so comfortably. Thankfully there would be more of that now, even if the cause was not something that they had truly wanted. Who wanted to be regarded as an infallible or unbreakable weapon?

Another sharp jerk reminded him of his company. He was having one of his "nightmares" and, if he had to guess, it was from one of his many beatings from before they had become friends. Those had been rather horrific, he remembered, reaching for the Praxian's chevron. That spot had been known to calm him, but didn't seem to work this night.

Picking Prowl up, the red frontliner quietly moved to the door which opened as it registered him. Whenever he woke up after such a night, he liked to be out in the open, able to feel the freedom. Thankfully when it had happened on Cybertron he had been careful to only go out after the acid rain. Here it didn't matter like it used to. He was grateful that the trip through the Ark's halls was devoid of mechs though. Dealing with them when he was trying to care for his gestaltmate would have put him in a foul mood and that was one thing the tactician did not need after such a night.

He settled down to get comfortable leaning against a tree close to Mt. St. Hillary. The other four would gravitate their way towards them after onlining and then go about their duties until need be. Hopefully Prime would be over his snit by the time they were called to his office. For the Matrix-Bearer's sake he had better call Sunny first. As he had said, no one bypassed the gestalt leader. Prowl had made sure to run everything past his twin before acting unless given permission to forego it before this all happened.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Prowl and Jazz were commed first and refused to go, Sunstreaker was furious, and they were all upset. At least they had spent part of the day out in the sunshine. Jazz was <em>still<em> trying to teach Bluestreak how to dance classically and _still_ not getting very far. The frontliners were lounging with Prowl curled between them watching Perceptor collect samples. For all of the collections he had made far from the Ark, he had very few from close by it. The black and white doorwinger had his dusty pedes in Sunstreaker's lap – who had laid a hand on white thigh plating and was massaging circles across the metal – and his doorwings on either side of an exuberant Sideswipe with his helm resting on red shoulder plating.

Since the morning, the yellow mech had exhausted his supplies of oversized paper and charcoal. He had been experimenting with human mediums since the supplies he would need for traditional Cybertronian art were not available. All of his sketches consisted of his bondmates engaged in their various pursuits throughout the day. He was looking forward to translating them into Cybertronian art and into other human mediums when they returned to their room. It would take him anywhere from several days to several weeks to accomplish that task, especially with his lack of some materials he considered essential.

"Sunshine, do you have another of my bookfiles with you? Or some other music files? I am either ignoring Jazz's pitiful attempts or Blue and I will teach him how to truly dance. Of course, the pole in our room would be better for a demonstration, but we can make do."

"Sorry, Prowler. I don't' have either of those."

He sighed, subspacing his datapad. "I'm too comfortable to move," Prowl declared, letting his weight relax even more against the red frontliner.

Jazz skipped over to them and flopped himself down on the other black and white. An "oof" escaped the tactician at the sudden weight.

"Jazz," he whined. "You're heavy!" That prompted a laugh from them all as the last two members of the gestalt came over and sat near them.

"So…. Sunshine," the red twin drawled. "Your drawings?"

Sunstreaker snorted. "They're nothing great at this stage." Of course, after he did show them they each pointed to their favorite and claimed the finished product of that image as they had begun doing so long ago back soon after they became a gestalt. There would soon be five new pieces of artwork being displayed in their room a short time in the future.

* * *

><p>Prowl and Sunstreaker were walking back from their shifts together, the frontliner having stopped by the black and white's office to retrieve him. The halls of the Ark were not the safest places for them to be anymore, so one primarily ranged fighter stayed with one mainly hand-to-hand fighter when possible. Their three members that were better ranged fighters were never left by themselves out in the open, by the hand-to-hand combat trained went wherever they wanted. Their actions were not overt and so garnered very little attention from any by the ones observing them the closest. They noticed and were concerned that the Catalyst team felt hat they needed that protection from the Autobots, but as Ratchet and Wheeljack watched their encounters with most of the mechs on board the Autobot flagship they understood the reasoning. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Jazz let things slide off their plating or made the offenders eat their words. The other three internalized everything and allowed it to fester and grow out of proportions.<p>

Ratchet also took note that they seemed to gather more around Prowl and Perceptor than Bluestreak, who also stayed as close as possible to the other two when available to. They needed more emotional support it seemed like. In fact, he was witness to them receiving supporting hugs and caresses. That was the part of the reason he was now standing outside of Prowl's door, the one closest to his, and trying to decide whether….

"To knock or not to know. That is the question," Prowl joked to Sunstreaker.

"You're really going to quote mangled Shakespeare at me?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Why not? It fits the situation."

The medic looked between them for a klik. "Would there be any way for me to come in? Talking privately would be better." He had purposely addressed Sunstreaker with his question. Most of the crew didn't understand the new dynamics about off hours. Looking back on it, he realized that most of them had slightly dimmed optics the entire time he had known them. Perceptor and Jazz had kept the brightest throughout the vorns. For Prowl, most of the entire time he had known him he had unusually dim optics. Perhaps he had been both in the bond and exhausted. He had also noticed that Sunstreaker had become less violent, an event he was pleased about since there were less visits by bots to his medbay, and seemed to relax more.

"You're welcome to come in, Ratchet," Prowl said after glancing at Sunstreaker for confirmation. He keyed in the code, allowing them all entrance before throwing himself down on his chaise and pulling a data pad from his subspace.

"No more analyses, Prowler," the yellow twin admonished. "You know they aren't allowed." He got the impression of a glossa stuck out at him for his troubles through the bond.

"It's not an analysis I'm working on. This is a book of Sudoku that I had to specially order."

Sunstreaker laughed. "It's still on one of your analysis datapads."

"How do you think I get through meetings? It sure isn't because they're interesting. If I were to pay attention the entire time, I'd emulate Ratchet and fall into an online recharge." He paused for a moment to glance at the other two mechs. "I used to take bookfiles until I realized that I had almost run out of them."

"And that was after we made you write out detailed reports on each while you were at the meeting. Some of those we really didn't need to know about. Do you know how much Blue wanted to frag?"

"Couldn't have been any more than Jazz. You know how many times I got spiked? And Cep joined us some too. They're fraggin' insatiable! I could barely walk right the next day and then he has the _nerve_ to waltz into my _office _and _spike me_ right across _the desk_!"

"So that was why we all decided to visit Cep in his lab…."

Ratchet shifted uncomfortably. He was a medic, but he wasn't that interested in his patients' 'facing lives. That could have remained a mystery.

"Oh. Sorry Ratch. Guess ya didn't want to hear that."

"Not really, Sunstreaker. Though that does mean that the bond is healthy, doesn't it?"

"Ours is, yes. I'm not sure about Menasor team, but Devastator team and Bruticus team are. They function better together on and off the battlefield than Menasor team. Motormaster probably was never told what gestalts require to work so well together. He's just as likely to attack his own as any Autobot."

:: And that is why I would like to isolate Dead End, Breakdown, and Wildrider. We could easily get along with them. Drag Strip is ten times worse than you and even I would leap at the chance to strangle Motormaster. ::

:: We'll have to see about that. Jazz has been watching over them while he's there. ::

:: I know, Sunshine, but I feel like we could do more. ::

"So what is it you wanted to talk about, Ratchet?" Prowl asked.

"What are the differences between a sparked gestalt and a made gestalt?"

"We were all gestalt-compatible sparks in that we could have each been bonded to multiple mechs and suffered no ill effects as long as we all liked each other," the tactician answered partially before allowing the yellow twin to continue. "We were all friends – apparently gestalt-compatible sparks tend to congregate – before we got drafted into the program and we all came from the same area, but we have varying backgrounds other than me and Sides – we actually are twins. Our skill sets also complement each other. The main difference between us is that we weren't sparked knowing each other so the process to how well we work together now was long. Especially after our sparks were surgically bonded together and our programming tampered with."

"Yeah. Trust was already hard to earn before just because of the area we lived in," Sideswipe said as he came into the room trailed by Perceptor. "It was a good thing Red was there to keep us safe until everything was sorted."

"He _has_ always been the best security mech," Prowl stated.

"How do you all know him?"

"He's our older brother," Sunstreaker said. "And when I say our, he is originally Sides and my older brother, but that bond is now owned by all of Catalyst team, so we each claim him as an older or younger brother."

"So he's known the entire time?"

"And helped us hide it," Perceptor added as he entered the room through his doorway.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Catalyst: Chapter Four**_

**Characters:** Sideswipe, Prowl, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Prime (mentioned), Red Alert, mentions of Inferno and the Protectobots and the Constructicons and Mirage and Cliffjumper (maybe a few others)

**Rating:** T – mentions of violence (not graphic at all)

**Words:** 2061

**Summary: **Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes:** Sorry about the long wait. I'll try to be better, but I make no promises. Hope you enjoy and any feedback you leave is appreciated.

Some events are glossed over, at least one surprise, a pissed off Ratchet, a depressed Red Alert, an OOC Prowl, a berserker Sunstreaker, and OOC Autobot – especially Optimus (partially because I'm not a fan). And I don't know anything about Mexico, so I'm just kind of making it up as I go. If it's not accurate, that would be why. ^^'

* * *

><p>::bond::<p>

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

_Thoughts_

* * *

><p>"Re~ed!" Bluestreak called from the door to the security center. "I need to speak to you!"<p>

"Come on in, Blue. The door has never been locked to my brothers."

The gunner grinned. He did know, but Inferno was supposed to be on shift with the Lamborghini and he didn't want to interrupt anything. He knew from personal experience that Lamborghinis did not like to be interrupted, thought that had seldomly happened before they were bonded and never since they had. As he stepped in, he was caught by surprise. The security director was slumped in his seat and not even bothering to look at the monitors – and _alone_. That Inferno wasn't there was suspicious since they had been together as a couple for a while and seemed happy, so what could have possible happened? Was it because they had revealed themselves and Red Alert hadn't reacted to the news?

"What's wrong, Red?" he asked in concern. Nothing had ever gotten his older brother down before. And _that _observation came from everyone's memories of him. Someone else may have witnessed it, but none of the gestalt mechs had over the span of each of their activations.

:: What's wrong? :: Jazz asked over the bond, sending him support.

:: Red needs cheerin' up. Somethin' happened. I can only guess that it has to do with Inferno since he isn't here at his shift. ::

:: Get him back to the room. We'll reroute the feed to our consoles and watch, :: Prowl said from his office. :: Sides will be here soon, Sunny's getting Cep, and Jazz is close to you. ::

"I wonder what's takin' Prowler and Sides so long," Bluestreak commented from the couch where he, Perceptor, and Jazz were curled up with the red and white sports car.

"I'll go look," Sunstreaker said, heading for the door. "Be back soon."

He opened the bond with his brother and the tactician as far as it would go as soon as he stepped into the hall, having to push through a barrier that they had both erected to muffle their presence, but leaving it in place with the other mechs of Catalyst team. A flare of pain hit him, causing him to stagger and support himself on the wall. With what he was registering from Prowl, Ratchet would be needed. Gathering his courage as disturbing this particular mech had horrible consequences if he deemed it unwarranted, he knocked on the medic's door. After a short, tense moment it whisked open.

"Sunstreaker. What can I do for you?"

"Someone's hurtin' Prowl and Sides. Prowl's going to need help, so come on." He grabbed Ratchet, hauling him down the hallways until he reached the one his gestaltmates were in. A crowd was gathered around the doorwinger and Warpath while Ironhide and a few other mechs restrained the red frontliner and forced him to watch as the tank fought the tactician. Fight being a relative tern as Prowl was unable to do much running low on energy like he was. Several mechs lay offline and pushed to the side, evidence that he was not fresh while his opponent was and of his combat skill. After all, he was bonded to some of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Autobot ranks and was bound to pick something up from them.

The rage of a gestalt leader was something to witness, the medic decided as Sunstreaker tore his way through the mechs in his way, leaving them incapacitated before grabbing the tank's arm as he was about to hit the tactician and swinging him around into a punch that crushed his faceplates and left his optics shattered. He was then thrown into the wall as the yellow frontliner advanced on those holding his twin. A low, rumbling, furious growl was the only way he could characterize the noise that forced its way out of the gestalt leader. No one messed with gestalt mechs without suffering the consequences of their actions. Their grips on the red mech faltered as the berserker advanced on them, allowing him to break free and take part in the revenge, meaning two berserkers were on the rampage in the Ark's halls.

* * *

><p>Ratchet was called before Prime the next morning a short time after he had finished repairs on the chief tactician. He was drained and tired of the enmity aimed at Catalyst team and extremely irritable. They had done nothing wrong by concealing themselves since he was sure that Prowl had factored their combining into each battle plan and had nixed the idea because the results were bad, but were being treated like they were traitors that had defected back to their original side in the war.<p>

There were threats by both parties in that office, but Ratchet walked out on a high, confident in his choices. Why would he choose to stay with a group of mechs that was discriminating against mechs that had been nothing but friends to all of them – or at least most of them – ever since being transferred to the unit. Looking back on it, he found it surprising that no one had quite figured out that they were at least friends since they were all close to one another – surprising since Perceptor had no reason to really be around any of the other mechs of Catalyst team and Prowl always seemed to make excuses to be in one of the other's presence.

He strode down the halls, helm up and, weirdly enough, a grin across his faceplates. Who knew that telling the Prime off could bring him such joy? He had reached a decision and was headed to see what Catalyst team was planning as he had heard something about them leaving just as he was called to the Prime's office. If Optimus could condone such an action, then he could decide to abandon the Autobot cause and the mechs who followed such a leader.

* * *

><p>Thankfully everything within the gestalt's room was easy to put into personal subspace or stuff into a specially designed subspace pocket located in a bag that they had used to transport their bulkier items from Cybertron. Even the furniture fit. Perceptor was an amazing scientist and pretty nifty with inventions when he wanted to be.<p>

First Aid and the rest of the Protectobots had decided to stay, and the Dinobots weren't leaving, but the CMO, Wheeljack, Red Alert, Mirage, and Cliffjumper had decided to go with Catalyst team. The convoy they were going to form would be interesting to see, but there was nothing for it. There wasn't a place for them to stay, but Prowl had said they had a solution, so they had left late at night with a huge amount of supplies and energon after Red Alert cut the security system down to default settings and erased all traces of his edits and additions.

"Okay, so the plan is this. We have the Constructicons' private comm. lines that even Soundwave cannot listen into. They've agreed to build us a base in Mexico and should have all the supplies in the next two cycles. We're to help them build and we each will have out input in the design. The land is already ours and we have enough funds to support ourselves for a long time – besides the fact that most of everything not with us is in the stock market," Sunstreaker explained over an ultra-short-range comm.

"The _Constructicons_?" was the unanimous question.

"They owe us."

* * *

><p>Construction went smoothly over the deca-cycle it took to build the base from the ground up – though that could be rephrased as 'from the ground down' as it was underground. Ratchet was ecstatic to have a med bay built to his exact specifications and the same could be said for Wheeljack and Perceptor about their labs – Wheeljack's with quadruple reinforced walls so any blasts would be contained fairly well. Mirage and Cliffjumper had surprised everyone by asking for one room for them both and revealing that they were bonded and had been for a few vorns, discounting stasis. Their cover had worked surprisingly well, but the medic had thrown a fit when he thought about the missions they spy had been sent on and how reckless the mini-bot was in battle.<p>

When the Constructicons had finally finished and decided to leave, each member of Catalyst team had shared a hug with each of their members. A kinship had been reestablished between the two combiner teams as they were the only two made gestalts left in existence, the others having all offlined when one of members was deactivated near the beginning of the war. Part of the attachment also came from how closely they had been created to each other and that they had been in the labs together after Catalyst team first formed and before the construction mechs had undergone the alterations after the scientists had tweaked the coding used on the former Autobots.

Prowl lay comfortably against Sideswipe as they soaked up the sun into their solar energy converters and kept watch, though that was only a formality. Red Alert's system could sense much further out than the two mechs could, but relaxing like they were made them happy and carried to their mates over the bond. They also drank less energon when they were able to gather energy a different way which was then used first in powering their frames.

"Ya know, Prowler, I'm really bored just sittin' here at the base. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I just want somethin' to get out and do."

"Red and I have been working on complete backgrounds for our holoforms. We also have enough human currency to be millionaires since we decided to siphon off what was not used by our respective departments on top of what we earned doing odd jobs. We had figured you would want to return to your previous occupation, Blue has expressed an interest in owning a gun shop, our Sunshine would do art again, and Jazz said he's going to focus on replacing his lost instruments before he decides what to do."

The frontliner grinned happily. Those two took such good care of them without them even knowing. "What are you and Red thinking about for yourselves?"

"Red is going to open a security firm, of course. He already has a few places he wants to change security at and I know that he's been playing around with the White House and other high profile places. I do not know what I want to do. Going back to my former profession is not an option, but about the only career I could pursue would be something I need staff for and I don't believe I could trust humans."

Sideswipe grinned, wrapping his arms around his gestaltmate and lying back so the black and white was sprawled across his frame, his doorwings bracketing him. "We're here for you if you need us, and I'm sure Red could use your help, though if you go on consultations, you'll need to change your alt mode's colors and take off the lights and decals. For now, let's just soak up the sun and the heat. Ratch said that it would help since you stressed your welds and systems so much during the drive here and the construction of the base."

He sighed through his vents, but relaxed against the frontliner. "We needed to leave. Could you imagine what would have happened to our Sunshine? Prime was going to strip Ratch of rank and throw him in the brig just for fixing me."

His arms and sides were soothingly rubbed as he shivered. "I felt so bad that I couldn't help, Prowler. That was one of the worst things to experience."

Red plating shivered across his back and doorwings, prompting him to turn so he was laying across his gestaltmate on his front. He grabbed Sideswipe's faceplates and forced him to look him in the optics. "It wasn't your fault. The only ones to blame are those that chose to do that to us."

The twin drew him into a tight hug and buried his faceplates in the doorwinger's neck. Prowl coaxed his helm away from the area after a few moments so that he could kiss him softly.

"I love you, Sides. We all do."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Catalyst: Chapter Five**_

**Characters:** Sideswipe, Prowl, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Red Alert,

**Rating:** T – mentions of violence (not graphic at all)

**Words:** 1728

**Summary: **Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes:** There's a time skip in the middle of this and a brief description of that time. If you would like to know more about that time, you can PM me or leave what you would like to see in a review and I'll try and write it and then post it in 'Outtakes'. Thanks for taking the time to read this! ^^

* * *

><p>::bond::<p>

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

_Thoughts_

* * *

><p>Red Alert bounced into the room happily, smile on his face plates and optics brightly lit in excitement. Prowl looked at him expectantly. If he was so excited, then he must have succeeded in his endeavor, and….<p>

"All of our backgrounds are done in full. I couldn't get Ratchet a medical degree, but he's a mechanic. We were all homeschooled and took online classes for any degrees we've got. It was easier to forget that way."

"That's awesome, Red." Are we able to look for jobs now?"

"Yeah. We just have to talk to Ratchet, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper and Mirage. They need holoforms to begin with."

Prowl looked mournfully at his paintjob. He'd gotten rather attached to the coloring and was loathe to change it, but he knew he'd get something just as nice since Sunstreaker was doing his paint. A grin caught on his lips as he looked at his gestalt leader. There was no way he was getting out of overloading him, which meant they'd all get one since when one did, they inevitably fragged until they were all spent. A merge in the middle of that would be amazing. Thank Primus the yellow mech used a fast drying paint.

"Your paint job has to wait, Prowler. I have to get what I need for mixing the paint first. You won't be going out soon anyway." He sighed. "Remind me again why you chose a _police car_ for an alt mode? It's a distinctive coloring on a vehicle."

"It made the most sense at the time, Sunshine," he replied with a smile. The non-gestalt mechs were still getting used to how much he had changed since he could now openly be around the rest of Catalyst team and relax. The black and white could usually be found in one of four places now: curled against one of the Twins as they were still thought of, closeted with Red Alert, on his chaise, or in Perceptor's lab.

The past few months had revealed many things to them all, beginning with Cliffjumper and Mirage's bond. Red Alert, Wheeljack, and Ratchet had started a relationship that was progressing splendidly. Perceptor kept Wheeljack from exploding things as much. Sunstreaker loved to paint and the walls were slowly being covered in murals. Devastator team wasn't bad and made good friends. Mirage didn't walk around cloaked that often any more. The Twins rarely pulled pranks anymore, but Bluestreak was getting his revenge on them. Jazz literally danced down the hallways. The two doorwingers always said that they danced better than he ever could, but always declined to show their skills. And, finally, the Decepticons could care less about what they were doing and actually came there to get better medical care, high grade, and were beginning to become friends. In fact, most days there were two or three just hanging around.

* * *

><p>"Red Alert," Megatron greeted the Lamborghini as the vid call was accepted before explaining the reason for it. "It has been brought to my attention that the Autobot scout, Bumblebee, overheard some of my mechs conversing about visiting you in Mexico. Soundwave, Skywarp, and Thundercracker are headed your way to join up with Starscream and the Constructicons. They are to help defend your base if the need arises."<p>

"Nothing's up on scanners yet, but I'll keep watch. Thank you."

The call cut out and Red Alert turned his attention to the screens displaying the outer reaches of his scanner range just as three blips appeared on it showing the color yellow. That meant that Sunstreaker deemed them friendlies. That would be the three Decepticons. Calling them friend still felt weird, but that was because of the war. Neutrality was agreeing with him well, he just hoped that it would be able to continue for them. Pit, the 'Cons had been raiding less and less for energon as they began to use their solar energy converters and Starscream had begun working with Wheeljack and Perceptor on a design to convert solar energy to energon more efficiently. If the Autobots would let them, their planet could be revived and helped to heal. As of now, the raids were really only to keep up appearances so that there would be no concerted effort to attack their base.

He sent a 'come here' over the bond with his brothers and settled in to wait patiently. The need wasn't urgent yet since the Autobots hadn't even popped up on his scanners yet, but they would finish what they were doing and then join him in the control room. Jazz was the first to arrive seeing as he didn't really have anything specific to do, then Bluestreak and Perceptor who were discussing an upgrade to the sniper's rifle, followed by Sideswipe. Sunstreaker and Prowl took a few more minutes before they entered his security center, obviously having been on the other side of the complex, their helms together over a data pad full of what he figured to be some kind of plans.

"Okay. Data pad away. I need your attention on me."

The data pad disappeared into Prowl's subspace so quickly that he barely caught the motion. Well, he now had their undivided attention. How was he to explain these events to his brothers?

"Okay, so Megatron called. Apparently, Bumblebee heard some of the soldiers talking about us. They may be coming this way. Sound, Warp, and TC are coming to help us if need be."

"Devastator team is also here. They stayed overnight to help build that trial version of the enlarged converter. You know they'll help," Sideswipe said from where he had chosen to sprawl across the floor. "And Starscream stayed to oversee their work, but I think it's because he likes Scrapper."

Bluestreak chose that moment to flop across the red frontliner's abdominal plating heavily, drawing a strangled whine from the frontliner as the air rushed out of his intakes. "Of course, they will. They like us and Scavenger has some pretty cool things her that even Hook likes so they'll definitely be helping us if need be."

"Blue," Sides whined pitifully. "Did you really have to do that?"

"Of course."

"Do we know if they're coming yet?" Prowl asked, leaning over Red Alert to look at the monitors.

The security director hugged him around the waist, looking at the rest of Catalyst team around the Praxian-framed mech's side. "I haven't seen anything yet besides the ones Megatron is sending us."

"I think we can expect he Autobot gestalts to stay back from the fight."

Perceptor hummed in agreement. "That is very likely."

The yellow frontliner grinned. "It's been a while since we had a fight. Do you think we'll get one?"

"It is highly likely considering how we were treated after they found out about us," was Prowl's answer as he cuddled up to the red and white Lamborghini after having finished his inspection of the monitors and their displays. "I do not have all of the variables though, so it is quite possible that I am wrong in my calculations."

* * *

><p>"Why'd we have to fly straight, TC?" Skywarp asked in a high-pitched whine, trying to get a rise out of the blue Seeker. "I could have warped us straight there!"<p>

"You err on the side of caution when dealing with Red Alert, or have you forgotten that since the last time you were reminded why it was stupid to prank him?"

"Noise: cease. Destination: one breem further."

The black and purple Seeker huffed, but fell silent. At least he could be as loud as he wanted to be shortly. Maybe he and Sideswipe could come up with some pranks he could pull on the Nemesis crew. That would be fun. One of the ones he had recently pulled off was Sideswipe's idea of painting the Coneheads to look like each other. Dirge was now white, Ramjet red, and Thrust blue – and they'd have to stay that way until they got paint delivered from Cybertron. It would be a while before they returned to their natural colors since paint wasn't really a priority, but by then everyone would be calling them the right name with the wrong color. The prank was just awesome as it'd be like having played one _twice_.

Thoughts of future pranks made time fly by, so before he knew it he was landing outside of the entrance to the underground base for the Nuetrals. He loved the place, honestly. Two of the best brewers alive lived there and that meant that he energon was the best to be had. It didn't even have to be high grade for his circuits to tingle when he got some from here. The medic sure knew how to brew for a Seeker, something none of them had since their stashes had run out vorns before the crash on Earth.

"Soundwave, Skywarp, Thundercracker. Greetings."

"Prowl: feeling well?"

"Ratchet wouldn't let me be anything but," the black and white said with a grin. "How are you feeling with the new little one?" They walked into the base, putting their helms together for a more private discussion, expecting the two fliers to follow, which they did happily.

"Newspark: easy to carry. Demands: few."

"That's good to hear. Do you want Ratchet to make sure you're getting all the right additives?"

"Help from Ratchet: appreciated."

"Red's watching the monitors to see when the Autobots get into view, so you're free to go now if you want."

"Thank you."

The tape deck moved off down one of the other hallways and the tactician tried to stifle a laugh as the two Seekers hurried to catch up to him. Skywarp wrapped the tactician in a 'bear hug' before he was able to fully do so, leaving him to lose all of the air from his intakes and reducing him to trying to get the warper off of him somehow.

"Uh, Warp, I think you need to let him go. He doesn't look like he's getting enough air."

Skywarp looked at his prize for a long moment before releasing him slowly. "Yeah. That's probably a good idea, TC."

The blue Seeker just huffed a long suffering sigh, helping his winged flightless friend to the common room and pushing him down onto the couch there. "We'll take care of ourselves for a bit and then you can tell us the news."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Catalyst: Chapter Six**_

**Characters:** Sideswipe, Prowl, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Red Alert, Skywarp, Starscream, Soundwave, Mirage, Cliffjumper, Thundercracker

**Rating:** T – mentions of violence (not graphic at all)

**Words: **1336

**Summary: **Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes: **So. There is one more chapter for this and it is a short one. I may decide to rewrite this at a later date, but as of now, it is not planned. I am going to write some more one-shots in this AU. If anybody has anything in particular they would like to see in those, I would be happy to try and write them.

::bond::

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

Thoughts

"Did you really _have_ to do that, Flash?"

Skywarp's grin widened at the use of his younglinghood nickname. "Of course I did, Flutter! How else would ya expect me to greet ya?"

"Like any normal mech would – a hug. Not like what you gave me," Prowl answered, doorwings doing just as his nickname described.

"You're forgetting who you're talking to, Flutter. The mech isn't normal by any means."

"So true," the red, white, and blue jet said as he walked into the common room. "And also far from sane since he took Soundwave as a bondmate."

"Oh, come _on_, Scree! You know you like him!"

"Of course I do, Warp. If I didn't, you sure wouldn't be bonded to him. We just need to remember to keep up appearances. For being _Autobots_, they sure do exploit weaknesses, imagined or not. I mean, who ever heard of the SIC and TIC of an army being as at odds as they characterize Decepticons?"

Prowl grinned at the Air Commander. "We knew better, but there was no telling any of the rest of them that. I guess it worked out in your favor."

Starscream snorted. "Of course it did. None of us are stupid enough to continue to follow a deranged leader. So tell me what you know of this upcoming attack."

"Very little, I'm afraid. Almost every Autobot is coming as far as I know, but the gestalts won't attack us and neither will the Dinobots. Catalyst team is made up of some of the best fighters of the Autobots and many of the rest of the ones that joined us have been some of the best in their fields. And to have you, Soundwave, and the Structies? There will be injuries, but there should be nothing that Ratchet and Wheeljack can't handle."

"And you never demonstrated why you were originally part of Spec Ops, did you?"

Prowl fixed Starscream with a glare. "Do you think any of them wanted to know that I was an assassin long before I went into tactical, especially when I was sent on missions? It's a good thing Blue and I can take each other's places easily."

"You weren't bad infiltrators, but Blue was definitely the better of you two."

"That might be because of his original programmed function as a pleasure bot," Skywarp cut in.

"Of course, Flash."

"And who better than an assassin to sneak into a place? The only reason we could ever tell that you had been on the Nemesis or a Decepticon base was that you left a calling card."

The doorwinger grinned at the teleporter. "Where do you think Jazz learned his sneaking abilities from? He _was _only a musician and instrument maker before the project."

….

"Ya know, Prowlah, Ah don' know if Ah cahn figh' tomarrah. Dey were frien's for so long, ya know?"

"I don't really know, Jazz, but I can understand," the tactician murmured into the saboteur's audio as he held him as close to his chassis as possible. They were the only two in the berthroom at that time – Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were on monitors, Bluestreak was scouting for a place to snipe from, and Perceptor was in the bal with Wheeljack.

Jazz sighed, tucking his helm close to Prowl's. "Would it be bad if Ah asked ta sit dis battle out?"

"Stay out of the fight unless one of us needs ya?" He hoped it was a good enough compromise for the Porsche.

Jazz's fingers pulled a little tighter in the Datsun's door hinges, pulling a low moan from the mech. It wasn't entirely of pain. The saboteur grinned as his visor lifted so he could have an unimpeded view.

….

Just as Prowl slipped into recharge the Twins entered the room, followed closely by Perceptor and a dusty Bluestreak.

"Did you _really_ have to do that?!"

"Our Prowlah wasn' gonna recharge 'less Ah did, and 'e needs 'is 'charge afore a battle."

Sunstreaker sighed heavily before crawling onto the large berth and curling around the saboteur's other side.

"Let's just get out own 'charge before tomorrow. Red's sensors are hooked to alert us all when something's wrong."

"Cuddle pile!"

….

Red Alert shared a kiss with Ratchet and Wheeljack before jogging over to his brothers. It was one of only a handful of times he would be on the battlefield and not left behind to work the comms. That was Soundwave's task this day since no bot was willing to let him risk the sparkling he was carrying. The only reason Skywarp was out on the field for that matter, was because he was needed for air support and the probability of him being hit was miniscule. He focused better after he was bonded to Soundwave – something that normally manifested itself in pranks.

Ratchet looked over his tools one last time before Wheeljack scooped him up into his arms and kissed him senseless. They then went their separate ways. The fliers were already in the air, and had been since early that morning, whirling together and then apart and performing complicated maneuvers that Catalyst team enjoyed watching, but the rest of the formers Autobots had never seen. Some of them were ones that pilots from Earth learned but most were Cybertronian in origin.

Mirage was curled up in Cliffjumper's lap and they were watching the display with rapt attention. It was like nothing either had ever seen before and they were determined to enjoy both the show and their ability to be as close to one another as they wanted to be. It was rather frowned upon in the Autobots even though Prowl and Jazz had been masquerading as a bonded couple. From what they could tell, the Decepticons regarded such a thing much differently. Looking back on some of the attacks that happened during the war, it was becoming apparent that they had been lied to by the Council. No Decepticon would ever have razed a city full of bonded pairs and sparklings to the ground or attacked colonies full of them in a bid to extinguish them.

Prowl and Bluestreak were busy covering each other in dust, performing maneuvers on the ground as complicated as what the Seekers were doing in the air. Perceptor was laying out and soaking up solar energy as Jazz unkinked some of Sunsteaker's lines and Sideswipe checked both his jet pak and his twin's parachute for damage. It wouldn't do to have them out of commission just in case they needed to be in the air for any reason. Not that such a situation was likely, but they didn't like to take unnecessary chances.

As the dust rose on the horizon, their apprehension grew and their fun and preparations came to an abrupt end. They all took cover or stood defiantly to meet the oncoming threat. After all, what else could they be coming for?

/I don't see any fliers,/ Starscream commed Prowl.

That was a relief. Neither Autobot gestalt was present and the Dinobots had absented themselves. With them having no medic present, it was hopefully going to be a short battle.

::Find your vantage points, Blue, Prowl,:: Sunstreaker instructed the two doorwingers. ::Jazz, why don't you go with them. Perceptor, with Wheeljack. Sides, you and me front and center.::

::Be careful, Sunny, Sides.::

Mirage's cloak engaged, shielding him from view as his bondmate went to stand with the frontliners. It was Cliffjumper's place with his guns and attitude. The spy, on the other hand, had never quite revealed all his tricks to his former faction and would be moving among them. They would all find out how badly he had been underestimated – other than by his mate, Prowl, and Jazz. Mirage had never underestimated the tactician either, but was bested quite quickly each time they had sparred.

::~ Well. Here goes nothing,~:: Sideswipe commented to them all as the Autobots rolled up and transformed with Optimus and Ironhide in the front, the Neutrals' weapons charging and being raised to aim.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Catalyst: Chapter Seven**_

**Characters:** Ironhide, Optimus, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Cliffjumper, Command Trine, Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet, Mirage, Perceptor, Bluestreak

**Rating:** T

**Words:** 595

**Summary: **Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Jazz, and Prowl have been keeping a huge secret. Literally.

**Author's Notes:** Last chapter. Any requests for what to write one-shots on for this AU? Or, really, anything? As long as it's Transformers.

::bond::

~comm.~

::~bond and comm. simultaneously~::

_Thoughts_

Ironhide stepped in front of Optimus protectively. "Where's tha rest of ya?" Only Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Cliffjumper, and the Seekers were visible. That didn't seem to bode well, and they didn't know why the Seekers would be there unless their former comrades were now allied with the Decepticons. It could go bad for them quickly if that was the case.

"Safe from you slaggers," Sunstreaker growled lowly, his fists clenching in anger.

Many of the Autobots winced visibly. It served them right in Catalyst team's opinion They had crossed a line that not even the Decepticons had – they were too honorable for that no matter what the Council had fed the Autobots. Those had been complete lies. They had been played off each other and it had gotten out of the Council's control after Praxus – far out of their control. It hadn't been the Decepticons that had gotten violent first after that.

"We do not wish for a fight this day," Optimus said, trying to placate the warrior.

"Yeah, well we didn't want one either," Sideswipe hissed at him. "If we had, it wouldn't have been that unfair."

"If ya'd just told us ya were gestalt, we coulda used ya bettah," Ironhide hissed right back at him.

"_Used_ us?" Jazz's cry was heard by them all. "Ah thought we were mo' dan objec's ta beh _used_!"

"Shh, Jazz," Prowl murmured, leaning over and pulling the saboteur against his plating. "They just saw us as even less than we knew. I am sure you were thought of more highly than the rest of us."

"Even den, dey're still insultin' meh. Ah'm bonded ta ya mechs. Happileh."

"Can we please just get started with negotiations?" Huffer huffed. "My joints are getting dusty. Do you know how much that hurts?"

"What sort of negotiations are you thinking about?" Sunstreaker asked warily.

"We would like to have our medic, spy, security director, and tactician back."

"No. We aren't trading any mechs and especially not my _gestaltmate_ or my _brother_," Sunstreaker said heatedly. "You'll have to ask Ratchet and Mirage yourselves."

"Ratchet, my friend, would you be willing to return to the Ark?" Optimus asked.

"No. Ya all were total glitches and ya still are! I would reformat the lot of ya into something useless!"

"Mirage?"

"And leave my bondmate? Pit no." He didn't bother to reappear as he talked. There was no knowing when fighting would break out between them and the Autobots. He didn't want to give himself away and it wasn't like they could pinpoint his position just by his voice.

/They got anything else to say?/ Thundercracker asked impatiently. He would rather be lounging in the base and laughing at Starscream's antics with Scrapper. He was the last of the three to find a bondmate and watching him court a mech was hilarious.

/They look to be 'scratching their helms'. They weren't expecting Mirage to be bonded. Probably not even that we were prepared or that we were going to greet them like this./

/Thanks Prowl./

Jazz glanced out at the assembled Autobots. He opened a comm. link with Ratchet.

….

Later that day he relaxed back against Perceptor with a grin on his faceplates. "Who knew that the end to the war could be brought about this quickly by just taking the CMO and CTO out of the equation?"

The black and white snorted. "Why do you think I never trained a successor?"

"That would be because you didn't want the hassle of one, Flutter. Now, Where'd Flit get to?"

"Bluestreak is probably with Red, Skywarp."


End file.
